While it may cause some of you to stop reading, possibly even stop following, I am going to say this at the start: I believe gay men and women should have the right to legally marry. That means receive all the benefits (and hassles, ball busting, nagging – am I right, am I right 🙂 ) that heterosexual spouses receive.
My reasoning, much like my intellect, is simplistic. I could not look a spouse of a same sex couple of 20 years in the eye and tell her she is not allowed to see her wife, dying of a terminal illness lets say, because the state doesn’t recognize her. Or tell her she has no right to funeral arrangements, cemetery selection, or even a front seat at the burial. Suppose the married couple are military members and one is killed in combat? The survivor has no right to the flag draping her spouse’s coffin. Think it can’t happen, read here married in the army.
Suppose the surviving spouse is the biological parent of the couple’s child. That child has no more rights to see the dying women she has known as mom her entire life then the spouse does. Neither will receive any benefits either. Or suppose the biological parent dies and has no next of kin, what happens to the child. The surviving spouse has no rights to the child. Is the kid taken from a woman she only knows as mom and put up for adoption, sent to foster care? Someone needs to explain to me how that is humane. Cause I don’t get it. But then again I’m a simpleton. So…
Now I’ll let all the defenders of the faith, the theologians, real and self-appointed, hash out the business of homosexuality being a sin and therefore wanting the government to put a stop to it or ban it from happening. I have neither the smarts nor the patients for that. I’m lazy so I like simple.
Aside from the simplistic scenarios I laid out above, there is this issue of treating every American the same. Should they not have the same rights as everyone else? I think they should. However, not at the expense of other people’s freedom. Ironically it’s in these same rights, these same freedoms, where the crux of my issue with the gay and lesbian community lay.
So I follow this dude on twitter. Joshua Trevino was a writer in President’s Bush 43’s speech writing office. Staunch catholic, staunch conservative. He throws out lightning rod statements to bait liberals into verbal combat on twitter. He’s a little to right wing for me but he is wicked smart so I’m cool with it. Plus his twitter feed should be worth 3 undergrad credits in history and political science.
Anyway, he chucks out this grenade a year ago about how the marriage rights of the LGBT community will push people of faith from the public square. He’s not talking about the idiocy of taking down the Ten Commandments from government buildings or what to call that tree we put up in late December. He’s referring to serious issues, like not having the freedom to practice your faith in non-tax payer funded public places, or your own place of business, of not being allowed to believe what you believe, being silenced for your beliefs, etc. I just let it pass by not giving much credence to it. But then some things occurred that lead me to believe he might be on to something.
The first and most obvious was the removal of President Obama’s first choice for the inaugural invocation. Obama picked a minister who was a friend of his. The guy had preached on the subject of homosexuality years ago. Of course being a Christian minister he referenced the passages in the bible that lay out God’s instruction on homosexuality. Because of that sermon the inaugural committee said he could not speak at the inauguration. The best line on this so far came from an anonymous congressional aide who said the inaugural committee will continue to search for a minister that disavows the same parts of the bible Obama does. In case you’re wondering, Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, did the invocation.
If you’re unfamiliar with God’s thoughts on homosexuality read 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. Mind you that passage also refers to sexual immorality and adultery. God covered most of the modern church with that, but for some reason only last sin He mentions has become the lightning rod.
Anyway, because a Christian minister preached on a passage from the Christian bible he was not allowed to give the invocation at the inauguration of President Obama. Really? I would have been more leery of the guy had he not preached on the subject, considering he was in charge of a very fundamental church, meaning they are strict bible believers. Very myopic of the gay and lesbian community. This sacking of a minister who preached the bible may not have caused too much public outcry by itself, but coupled with some other occurrences, it will cause backlash. The next log on the fire is much bigger and getting more public scrutiny.
A baker in Gresham Oregon is coming under fire by the gay/lesbian community and the Oregon Dept. of Justice because he would not make a wedding cake for a same sex couple. Aaron Klein owns the business and has made clear he does not support same sex marriage on the basis of his faith. Keep in mind, the guy doesn’t make wedding cakes as a main enterprise. He’s a baker and his bakery sells a lot more breads, doughnuts, cakes, etc.. then it does wedding cakes. He only makes those on request. He does not ban gays or lesbians from buying his products, just the one product, a wedding cake. He has no religious thoughts on the Cruller or Bear Claw. Read the story here: cake kerfuffle. When you read the story you’ll notice he is not a militant, he was not rude to the couple. He simply stated his objection based on his faith and conviction and politely told them they could buy whatever they wanted but he would not do a wedding cake.
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Now the state government is investigating him to see if he violated Oregon state law ORS 659A.403, discrimination in places of public accommodation. Again he does not ban anyone from shopping in his bakery. If you’re a gay man you can go in and eat your body weight in cupcakes or glazed doughnuts. I mean it ain’t a Krispy Kreme but I’m sure it’s almost as good. He just won’t make a wedding cake for a same sex couple. So now he’s being investigated for his faith and conviction? This might be the slippery slope Trevino has been warning about.
Nope, sorry, can’t get on board with that. Won’t get on board with that. The state government in Oregon is making a big mistake; the gay and lesbian community is making a colossal mistake. Had the couple gone out on the sidewalk and thrown a rock in just about any direction they would have hit a bakery that would have gladly made a cake for them. Instead they decided to turn Aaron Klein into a martyr. The last thing you want when trying to change minds and over turn laws is make a martyr out of a guy who did not deserve it.
If this is the road the gay/lesbian community is going to take to get the rights they deserve, by suppressing the freedoms of other Americans, by pushing them from the public square because of their Christian, Islamic, or Jewish beliefs, people like me who currently support them will become a road block. You’ll be surprised how quickly the gains made in several states during the 2012 election cycle can be over turned in the next election. Just ask any one living in California.
Grow up gang, toughen up, and more importantly smarten up. Your rights might just depend on it.
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